Mike Pence denies claims gay Olympian Adam Rippon refused to meet him
Mike Pence has dismissed reports the first openly gay US Olympian rejected an invitation to meet him in protest against his position on homosexuality.
The Vice President claimed he had never extended an invitation to Adam Rippon, the 2016 US men’s figure skating champion, and labelled reports “fake news”.
According to USA Today, a member of Mr Pence’s staff contacted the US Olympic Committee to arrange a meeting between the 58-year-old politician and 28-year-old athlete back in January.
The purported request was said to have arrived the same day the publication published an interview with Rippon in which the first-time Olympian condemned the decision to use Mr Pence to lead the 2018 US Olympic delegation to South Korea.
Mr Pence, who is known for his profoundly conservative views on marriage equality and LGBT+ rights, has a record of supporting the widely discredited practice of gay conversion therapy.
“You mean Mike Pence, the same Mike Pence that funded gay conversion therapy? I’m not buying it,” Rippon said in the interview.
Rippon, who came out as gay in late 2015, also said he was not keen to meet Mr Pence during the official meet-and-greet which takes place between the official delegation and the US athletes just before the opening ceremony.
But Mr Pence, who arrived in South Korea on Thursday ahead of the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang on Friday, has denied a meeting was ever requested.
The Republican tweeted: “Headed to the Olympics to cheer on #TeamUSA. One reporter trying to distort 18 yr old non-story to sow seeds of division. We won’t let that happen! #FAKENEWS. Our athletes are the best in the world and we are for ALL of them! #TEAMUSA.”
In a tweet penned directly to Rippon, he said: “I want you to know we are FOR YOU. Don't let fake news distract you. I am proud of you and ALL OF OUR GREAT athletes and my only hope for you and all of #TeamUSA is to bring home the gold.”
A statement from Mr Pence’s office on Wednesday said: “The Vice President’s office did not reach out to set up a conversation with Mr Rippon. As we’ve said before, the Vice President is supporting all the US athletes in the Olympics and is hoping they all win medals.”
After Rippon’s interview came out last month, Alyssa Farah, press secretary for the Vice President, denied the allegation Mr Pence supports conversion therapy.
“The accusation is totally false with no basis in fact. But despite these misinformed claims, the vice president will be enthusiastically supporting all the US athletes competing next month in Pyeongchang,” Ms Farah said in a statement.
“Resources should be directed toward those institutions which provide assistance to those seeking to change their sexual behaviour,” Mr Pence wrote on his congressional campaign website back in 2000.
Many argued the statement was evidence he supported gay conversion therapy, but a spokesperson for Mr Pence told the New York Times in November 2016 that the Indiana-born politician does not support the practice.
Mr Pence, a devout Christian, is also famed for his anti-abortion views. He has previously vowed to relegate Roe vs Wade - the landmark Supreme Court decision which legalised abortion nationwide in 1973 – to the “ash heap of history, where it belongs”.
Rippon, who was selected for the Olympic team last month after coming fourth at the US figure skating championships, made it clear he was not a fan of Mr Pence’s in his previous interview.
He said: “If it were before my event, I would absolutely not go out of my way to meet somebody who I felt has gone out of their way to not only show that they aren’t a friend of a gay person but that they think that they are sick. I would not go out of my way to meet somebody like that.
“I don’t think he has a real concept of reality. To stand by some of the things that Donald Trump has said and for Mike Pence to say he’s a devout Christian man is completely contradictory,” he said. “If he’s OK with what’s being said about people and Americans and foreigners and about different countries that are being called ‘s***holes,’ I think he should really go to church.”
